Who I Am

Hello! I have been around the world, managed a successful IT company and electronics shop in which reverse engineering products was the norm. Recently I dumped all that to go back to school to study Electrical Engineering and begin filling in some of the gaps in my education.

Why I'm on Hackaday.io

I love to randomly pick a challenge to complete and then see how far I can take it! In the past I have done such things as build a CO2 laser using 100 dollars or less and only parts found in the local hardware store. Other projects often center around human interfaces or audio. Almost always I am inspired by the natural world.

I signed up for projects because it looks like one of those great things to be part of. :)

Things I've Built

Pi Grrl 2

I started building this project almost a year and a half ago... finally got around to finishing it.

Technician Folk Art!

When your sitting at your workbench with a stack of obsolete AMD CPUs and a laptop that happens to have a huge american flag sticker on the back.... The most expensive set of blocks I have ever made :) Patriotic :>

Retro Computer Restorations

I am not going to picture all of them here, but I love checking out the technology of the past! Pictured is a heathkit/zenith Z-120 after a full restoration to working condition.

Abusing a defenseless logic IC

This is an overdrive pedal that seriously abuses a logic IC to get that transparent yet over driven sound that everyone loves :)

Homebrew Guitar amp

Amps are expensive... and when you are hunting for "YOUR" sound... what better way than to build it from the ground up. Behold, my guitar amp project. I learned a lot about valves, if you want to try I recommend checking out http://ax84.com/

605nm Laser

Back when I was building lasers I needed a small laser to align the larger ones. So I built one, this is the visible beam from my 605nm laser. It really is pretty. :)

Broken TurboGrfx 16? I don't think so!

Sometimes you have to do what ya gotta do. I wanted to play some of the great TG16 games, these mods bypass the defective RF circuit and without modifying the TG16 itself let you get full video and stereo out... without all the snow.

Sega Master System Mods

Like the NES, the master system will always have a place in my heart. That still doesn't stop me from trying to improve on an already great design!

NES Mods

I have done a LOT of retro console restorations and mods over the years. Everything from composite mods (pictured) to stereo and overclocking. These are a lot of fun to do and you learn a lot about how the old circuits functioned.

Atari 7800 Controllers

The US controllers for the Atari 7800 are very difficult to use. I converted some old Sega Master System controllers to do the job and have every button functional. If you just use stock sega controllers, they do not function properly.

Atari 5200 controller

This console is notorious for having the worst controllers ever designed. I love the games, so I build myself some new controllers to enjoy them. These have been featured on various gaming websites.

Music stand "hack"

Just what it says, I wanted a nice stand for my boss BR900CD recording system, so I converted a music stand by "hacking" it. Literally.

Functional laser "raygun"

This was another "its snowing outside" project. It features a 1.5 watt 405nm laser. As with all my laser projects, I do wear the proper eye protection.

MAME Cabinet

I pulled a 1982 joust cabinet out of the trash. It had been stripped and the monitor was dead. I repaired the CRT and build a new panel for it. It can run MAME or jamma compatible boards.

Tin Whistle... sorta

Not high tech, but sometimes you just have to relax. Done in an evening this was a great project during a local snow storm. It has a very warm, mellow tone and is made from copper and silver.

CO2 Laser version 2

With the success of the first one, I had to do the only logical thing... build it bigger! This is a picture of the plasma chamber I blew after learning the fun art of glass blowing! :D

CO2 Laser for less than $100USD

I got bored one winter and decided ... lets build a laser! Only 2 rules: It had to be cheap, less than 100 dollars and I could only source parts from the local hardware stores. I ended up in several magazines for this one :)

Commodore 64 Media PC

This is a project that I did over 10 years ago now, has it been that long? I managed to squeeze a complete computer into an old nonfunctional C=64 and using a picmicro, interface the existing keyboard. It was a great first MCU project.

Hi. I have just seen your presentation on Ternary logic. May I ask for a copy of the slides? I am trying to write a program that can simulate ternary logic. Maybe even simulate the computer you are sketching :-)

There are copies of the needed information in the project itself right now :) Some of the truth tables are up as well, I plan on doing a video on the math part of it when I get some time as several people have asked me to demonstrate it for them.